More time with the new kit

Every session I am trying out different combinations of kit, and every session I am finding perfect partnerships in what have been difficult cold conditions here at Portland Harbour. This past two weeks I have been out on the water 10 times, only one of which was me being too optimistic in very low winds trying to find the lower threshold of the Hot Sails GPS 8.8 and Exocet SL Sport 78cm.

Exocet and Hot Sails tuning in low winds

It was light winds on Saturday, so I rigged the biggest sail I currently have. The 8.0m Hot Sails GPS will become my second biggest in my quiver by the end of the month but currently it is my only option when the wind is light. I rigged it with the downhaul on the lowest setting at 28cm extension, a couple of people even commented that it didn't appear to have much downhaul on. It still exhausted the gusts (when I could find one) without problem and I never felt like I was being lifted  up like often happens with minimal downhaul.

Jon White on the Hot Sails GPS 7.3m rigged for light winds on minimum downhaul

I paired it at first with the Exocet SL Sport 78cm, my biggest slalom board, and a Black Project Type R 45cm fin. This was great for half an hour and allowed me to get used to the new Chinook Pro1 180-246 carbon boom and the outhaul settings for the sail. I came in and added a couple of cm of downhaul. I felt this did give me an extra knot peak speed but the wind had picked up ever so slightly so its hard to judge if it was the extra rope through the cleat that caused it. The GPS track confirms this increase as well.

Eriks Advice on Speedsurfingblog

This is a collection of links to Erik Loots' Speedsurfingblog which a lot of you will know and some may not. I am trying to collect together some of his older posts that are worthy of reading and will help us all get better speeds out of our sessions.

Exocet SL Sport Boards, XO Silver line sails and Black Project fins. Review stage 2, powered up 'speedsurfing'

This next part of the review process is about getting to know the kit in a variety of conditions. This article discusses the first outing in constant Force 4 gusting to Force 5 winds, good both in terms of direction and strength. For a first 'full-on' session I was pleased with the outcome, both myself and Portland Pirates team mate, workhorse and dedicated all round windsurfer Pete Young had good speeds from the boards considering they are big pieces of kit.

Exocet SL Sport 78cm (129l) and 66cm(105l) with XO Silver 7.8m sail

New Exocet overtaking old Exocet (formula so all is forgiven)

The first time I got the boards wet the wind was low. It was ideal to get a feeling for them and to see the planing threshold of the bigger board with the biggest sail I was supplied with. Most other sailors were either out on 150+l beginners kit or formula kit, with a couple of lightweight freestylers out doing their pump pump pop stuff.

Practice on the Slalom Board, 29nmi sailed, 824nmi total.

Nice after work session today. Really starting to gybe the smaller board well, its such a great feeling coming out of the turn so fast. I tried a bigger fin and think it was noticeably slower than the Select Caspar Speed 31cm that I have recently used with my 7m Tushingham X15. I was very close to 30knots on several runs but didnt quite make it. The tide was low and I did not want to go too far inshore and risk grounding the fin like I have done so many times in the past.

824nmi Total, hopefully I will get to 900 before the end of the month, and 1000 before I finish work for the summer.

Couple of great after work sessions, only 31nmi logged though

Tuesday 7th June was the day I closed the gap and realised how much good the 100+nmi had done for my sailing. I was only a few knots off the best by the end of the session. I used my trusty Tushingham X15 7m that had been repaired, after a bit of grumbling the sail woke up again and delivered like it used to, by staying stable in big gusts and light and effortless in the lulls. I used it on my Mistral RD slalom board with a small fin - Select Caspar elite 31cm.

I was being taunted by Pete who had decided to shower me with every head on run, and when we were on the same tack he teased me and stole my wind so I bore off. Then he followed, I bore off some more, he followed and pushed me even further until we were at least 140degrees off the wind. This was a big learning point for me as it allowed me to see his technique, cheers Pete! I then saw what I was doing wrong, I was trying to keep the gap closed as I bore off which I never used to do. So I opened up my sail and carried on accelerating..........

It took me about half an hour to get back upwind though! Once there with a rising tide and a small fin I could get reasonably close to the shore and did some speed runs, getting regularly over 30 and close to 31. I told Pete I had 31 (rounded up) and he said thats not 31 then! So the next run I really went for it and got 31.88, close to my personal best in a lot less wind! It was a great session with a good 31nm clocked giving me a new total of 650nm.

On Wednesday it was windier and the tide was even better with it being neaps. I rigged a smaller sail and tuned it perfectly with an even smaller fin and the same board. Went to turn on my GPS and it wouldnt work so I assumed I had left it on somehow overnight and it had discharged. I put it on charge in the van and went to get a coffee thinking I would save my energy while the tide rose. Within 10 minutes I was impatient so went to check it, unplugged it and it turned off again. Something was wrong. I tried and tried to turn it on but it wouldnt unless it was plugged in to charge.

I went out without the GPS and did some of my best ever gybes, planing round my old flatmate (an ambition of mine for quite a while) at full speed. I had some really good runs but no GPS to prove it. Still it was good practice and a new one hopefully will be delivered tomorrow thanks to RIKS online shop. I will try to get the old one repaired as a spare, I have tried allsorts myself but cannot get it to work. I will have covered at least 20nmi but will not include it in my challenge as I have no proof..........but if we get a bad wind drought I may have to call on it along with my SUP sessions I have hidden away for backup.

Today (Thursday) there was wind but it was not forecast, I had all my kit apart from my fin quiver and full wetsuit. There is a shorty in the van for emergency which I could have used along with a 42cm fin, but I decided to save my energy for the next long session with a GPS.

Total 650nmi.

Simmer Slalom Fin Review - 34cm

This I will always think of as my first real fin purchase. Any windsurfer will know what I mean. We get fins with boards which are usually excellent, then we get a couple of extra fins out of the bargain box to extend the range of winds/sails that the board can use. In my first few years sailing cost was the issue and I would buy second hand fins, not designed specifically for purpose, more for a range of conditions. In other words freeride fins which are a lot more swept back.

After getting my first dedicated slalom board I knew I would need some true slalom fins. The reason I bought this one was due to Jim of Puravida Boardriders who gave me a good deal for it and the board. I could not find any reviews of the Simmer slalom fins. It is a G10 fin as opposed to carbon, I am still finding which will work best for me and understand that this aspect of fin design suits different people but gets them to the same top speeds.

My first session on it I made my best hour average speed, so clearly it was a good fin. I tried it off the wind and upwind, it does both with ease, allowing a lot of pressure from the back foot before any cavitation or spinout. In the event of spinout the fin seems to catch again, like a warning signal to stop driving it so hard. I would hazard a guess that this is the 'nipple' on the very tip of the fin that could help this happen. 

I have used this fin with several boards. The first being my Starboard Kode 112l, this comes with a Drake Freeslalom-swift 36cm fin. I found this stock fin would spinout at 28knots, both across the wind and off the wind. It is a freeride fin with quite a thick foil so not designed for full on slalom/speed. The simmer made a noticeable difference and got me within hundredths of a 30knot top speed on the board which is great for a big freestyle wave board. It has also given me a 24knot average mile over very choppy water.

The second board I have used it with is a Fanatic Falcon 105l (a loan from a friend/teammate over the winter) and 7m Tushingham x15. It has taken me to 32knots top speed, with a 5x10sec average over 30. I don't think I have span it out once using this board/fin combination. These simmers may well work out to be a competitor to the very expensive Techtonics that partner the falcons so well. I am hoping to get 35knots out of this combination before spring 2011.

Finally I have used it with my Mistral sl95, but this was while still getting used to the board and its difficult nature. I hope to use this combination a lot more in the future, as it will be the bigger fin for that board.

The finish on the fin is excellent, you can clearly see how 'uniform' the production process makes the end product. The only downside was that it needed a lot of sanding to get it to fit well into the box on the Kode, it now fits like a glove. I would call this a mid range fin with a lot of potential to compete against some of the top end fins. I suspect it was only a mid range price as they are very new to the market. If you are in the UK Pura Vida Boardriders stock them.

Kit Reviews

Hot Sails GPS intro review.

Hot Sails Maui are my new sponsors for sails. Over time there will be comprehensive reviews of their range, starting with the GPS -Grand Prix Slalom. This is my weapon of choice for the BSA Slalom 2012, to be paired with Exocet RS Slalom and SL Sport boards and Black Project fins (in my opinion THE only fins to use now).

Hot Sails GPS First Impressions

click the headings for the full reviews

Exocet RS4, First impressions

Following the reviews below I was over the moon to accept sponsorship from Exocet, and now ride for the UK Team 'Exo Warriors' under the management and guidance of the UK Exocet agent Ian Kraft. Over time I will do a series of reviews on the RS series, I currently now own the RS4(69cm), long with the SL Sport 78 (see reviews below). In the long term I will also get the RS2 and RS1 (59cm, 54cm)

Exocet SL Sport and XO Silverline, with Black Project Fins Sails Full Team Review

This section is where the real reviews are, using  a team of sailors of varying abilities over a period of time to give full feedback on the kit. This is a different type of review, pitting the abilities, weights and styles of sailor against one  board range rather than brand against brand. It is going to be a series of reviews.

Part 1 - Initial Impressions While Rigging

This first introduction to the kit looks at some of the extra features  and the standard parts such as footstraps and the extras on the sail. The sail is rigged a few times to see how easy it is with it being a cammed sail with thin luff tube.

Part 2 - First Impressions in light winds on the water.

Here I talk about a very light wind session with use of both boards, the 7.8 silver sail and a couple of Black Project fins. The outcome was good despite marginal dropping winds.

Part 3 - Good winds and good speeds.

Getting to know the Exocet 66 SL Sport, Silverline 7.8m sail
 and Black Project Typr R 37.5cm fin

Here the kit is tested in force 4, gusting to 5.

I rarely top 30knots in these conditions with a 7.8m sail but manage it with this kit.

The Black Project fin does a fantastic job.

Part 4 - Final thoughts and details.

The sails and boards are discussed in detail.

Positive and negative thoughts are highlighted.

Overall opinion and would I buy one?

All the reviews below this point were part of my learning process while I completed the 1000nmi challenge, and no where near as rigorous as the 'true' reviews above. They will give you an idea of some kit that I could not find anything for on the internet review wise.

Mistral SL 95 RD (2009)

The Mistral Slalom 'Red-Dot' is a full carbon construction, feather light speed demon, read the review here. It took me a while to tame the board.

Starboard Kode 112l (2009)
For a long time this was my favourite board. It is such an easy board to sail that it almost makes me look like I know what I am doing. It is still my weapon of choice in the winter when I do not want to get wet.

Tushingham X15 7.0m (2009)

This was my first speed sail and started me on this quest. I guess if I had not bought this then this whole website may not exist. For the time it lasted it was a great platform to learn on due to being light yet powerful.

Tushingham X15 7.6m (2010)

This is my lightwind sail, and will be for some considerable  time. It gets going very quickly considering the 4 cams and deep profile. First impressions are here.

Simmer Slalom fin 34cm

My first 'true' fin purchase that did not come from the bargain box. It was worth it.









My Personal Kit List.

Here I have a list of my kit, more to keep a track of it myself than anything else. I have also included links to my preferred shops as they are always a pleasure to deal with.http://www.redsurfbus.com/2011/10/exocet-free-slalom-tests-first.html